A limited shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security began early Saturday after Congress failed to extend DHS funding before a midnight deadline, a dispute driven by Democrats’ demands for new guardrails on federal immigration enforcement following two fatal shootings in Minneapolis. Most of the federal government remains funded through Sept. 30, but hundreds of thousands of DHS employees face delayed pay and disruptions to agencies such as TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement before the department’s stopgap funding expired. The shutdown is limited largely to DHS, with the rest of the federal government operating under full-year funding through Sept. 30, according to reporting by NPR and the Associated Press.
The impasse centers on Democrats’ push for new constraints on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis in recent weeks. Democrats have laid out a 10-point set of demands that includes expanded use of body cameras, clearer identification requirements for officers, updated use-of-force policies and other accountability measures, while Republicans and the White House have opposed several of the proposed restrictions.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said this week that negotiators were not near an agreement and indicated lawmakers could be called back from a scheduled recess if a deal materializes. Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have argued that extending DHS funding without additional enforcement safeguards would amount to approving immigration operations without adequate oversight.
Despite the lapse in DHS appropriations, immigration enforcement is expected to continue largely uninterrupted in the near term because ICE and CBP can draw on substantial funding Congress provided in last summer’s large tax-and-spending package, administration and agency officials have said. At a recent oversight hearing, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told lawmakers a shutdown could hinder work against transnational crime, while not pointing to major immediate effects on core immigration operations. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott warned broadly that a lapse would make the country less safe.
Other DHS components, however, face more direct strain. The Transportation Security Administration, which employs tens of thousands of screeners, is expected to keep most frontline personnel on the job as “essential” workers, but employees would work without pay until funding is restored. Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers that TSA saw unscheduled absences rise sharply during last fall’s 43-day shutdown and said many employees are still recovering financially from that period.
At the Federal Emergency Management Agency, officials said the Disaster Relief Fund should allow the agency to continue immediate emergency response for a time, but warned that a prolonged shutdown would slow reimbursement payments and disrupt planning and training. Gregg Phillips, FEMA’s associate administrator for response and recovery, told lawmakers that while the fund can sustain response operations “for the foreseeable future,” a catastrophic disaster could quickly strain available resources.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which is housed in DHS, would continue critical missions such as search-and-rescue and other essential operations, but warned that a funding lapse can erode readiness and delay maintenance and long-term capabilities. Admiral Thomas Allan, the Coast Guard’s vice commandant, told lawmakers that shutdown conditions pose lasting workforce and operational challenges.
The funding lapse is the third shutdown episode affecting DHS during President Donald Trump’s second term, according to the Associated Press. How long the partial shutdown lasts depends on whether negotiators can bridge gaps over immigration enforcement reforms and pass a funding measure clearing both chambers and the White House.
